Motive
by GreenElfyGirl
Summary: Everyone has one. How many will collide? This is a different spin with everyone's favorite vampire hunter, throwing D into our modern times with modern vampires. This is my first fanfic, but I'm no noob to writing. R&R please!
1. The Machine

Stefan stepped back to admire his work, wiping the sweat from his bloodshot eyes and placing a tired hand on his hip. The machine before him glinted coldly in the light seeping in from the window of the garage, gleaming in metallic superiority to the mundane objects crowded around it. Cylindrical in shape, the contraption was over six feet tall, its surface marred only by an array of switches, buttons, and levers with abstract purposes known only by its inventor. Stefan's eyes roamed over every inch of the machine as he paced around it, his teeth gnawing at a yellowed fingernail in a habit he failed to notice, much less correct.

This endeavor had taken fifteen years of his life from him, not to mention the respect of all those who knew him, and nearly every cent he had ever earned. Because of this collection of metal and wires, Stefan had been reduced from a Harvard valedictorian to a nail-biting nut that whiled away all his hours and money on an inanimate piece of metal. He had no friends, no wife or children; the only people he ever spoke to anymore was his fellow employees, and even those conversations were no more than a passing greeting or comment about the weather. It had bothered him at first, but after a few years he had convinced himself not to care. It would all be worth it, he had told himself. Just keep at it, and it will all be worth it.

Today he would see if he was right.

The contraption released a soft hiss as Stefan pressed his thumb to a blue button, a part of the chrome exterior sliding away to reveal a doorway that lead to the stark white interior of the cylinder, which was pricked a thousand times over by small black dots that, upon closer inspection, were revealed to be tiny protruding cylinders, out of which something was obviously supposed to be produced. Stefan's hands wrung themselves together as he examined the interior, pale blue eyes darting with compulsive nervousness over every inch of the surface. He stepped away after a few long minutes, finally seeming satisfied as his finger pressed the button again, closing the door. Another button slid a smaller panel away from the side of the machine when pressed, revealing a thin keypad hidden in the smooth surface of the device. Stefan licked his lips as his fingers jabbed at the keypad, typing in a specific sequence that was the key to the machine's purpose. A screen above the keypad kept up with his fingers, flashing it's instructions as they were given to process them.

Duty #1: Creation. Species: Any. Specific Instruction: Vampire Hunter, best of. 

Computing… 

Stefan watched the screen intently as his fingers finished in their flurry, biting again at a nail. "Come on…" He muttered in a coaxing tone to the machine. "Come on…"

Duty Accepted. Insert Data File. 

It was all Stefan could do not to cheer, grinning with glee as he pushed a small disk into a slot next to the screen. The smile remained on his face as he watched data flash rapidly on the screen in a fragmented flood, standing patiently for the minute it took for the data to be computed.

Data Accepted. Initiate. 

Stefan did a small dance as he stepped to the part of the machine that held the levers and buttons, pressing a green button and holding it while he flipped a few switches and pulled a lever. As soon as this was done, an odd whirring sprang from the machine, a few hisses and sounds of static accompanying it as the appliance was brought into action. Stefan stepped back, watching the machine intently as it continued to produce its odd symphony. The noise grew in volume, compelling the inventor to take another step back. A few lights on the machine flashed, blinking in a crimson warning before sudden burst of light assaulted his eyes and the contraption exploded, thrusting Stefan and the surrounding items into the air. The man hit the wall over his workbench, falling onto that and then the ground as gravity took over once more, grunting as a few airborne tools descended on his already bruised body. His hurt was hardly heeded, however, the aging man twisting into a sitting position as his pale eyes sought out his beloved invention.

The sight of the twisted metal blasted beyond repair would have moved the poor inventor to tears if it had not been for the shape that had formed in the middle of the destruction. Stefan squinted as his eyes fell upon the destruction, a hand rising to shield his face from the light that emanated from the blurry figure. Long, multi-fingered threads of electricity whirled around it, connecting the ball of light to the corroded metal that was still working on the job it had been programmed to do. Stefan straightened himself as the light began to weaken, the shocks of miniature lightning occurring at a diminished rate. The figure became more defined as the light faded, revealing itself to be a curled humanoid shape crouched immobile on the ground. Stefan's legs trembled as he stood, his body teetering unsteadily when his eyes refused to be moved from the form. He had just taken a tentative step forward when the creature moved, bringing itself to a standing position in one fluid movement. Stefan gasped at the sight of the towering man, stumbling backward and falling with an undignified crash into a box full of tools. The creature turned its head toward Stefan as he gaped up at it from the ground, blinking once at him with dark eyes that passed as human only on the most superficial level. The inventor began to tremble as his gaze locked with his creations', knowing as he had known so many years ago that the thing before him was not human.

"V-vam …" Stefan swallowed, starting to try to bring himself out of his uncomfortable position on the ground so he could be in some condition to protect himself if the creature became unfriendly. "Vampire."

The creature stared down at the human, nothing in his ivory expression shifting in the slightest. His stoic features were that of a young man's, nearly hidden from view by the wide-brimmed hat on his head. Only his eyes moved, the dark orbs following Stefan as he stood uneasily and watching him jump back when his low, rich voice permeated the air.

"I am no vampire."

The aged human stared at the beautiful figure before him, eyes haunted by meticulous dreams and lack of sleep drinking him in with a worshipper's fearful reverence. "...Then… you… do you hunt them? Did it…" A short yelp of laughter erupted from the man's mouth, but was quickly smothered to ask the rest of his question. "It worked? Did it work?"

The tall figure tilted his head slightly, the ebony hair that cascaded down his back rippling silkily with the movement. He was silent for a moment as he evaluated the human, his expression remaining as revealing as stone. "Perhaps I should introduce myself." The man muttered in that rich voice of his, his body turning toward the inventor who was still sitting on the cold ground. His movements showed the smoothness of a cats' as he stooped, only his torso bending in the shallowest of bows. "I am indeed a vampire hunter." He straightened to see the excited gleam in Stefan's widened eyes.

"You may call me D."


	2. Explaination

_Hey all… This being my first fanfic ever, and me being rather absent-minded at times, I forgot to mention in the previous chapter that I do not own the story of Vampire Hunter D or anything… The most I get is a few DVD's and an awe at how sweet the guy is. Also, I apologize if any one thinks this might have been too slow of a start or something. Fact is, this is a rather unusual idea, and I felt the need to work it out a bit—not only for me, but for you all. Eh… I'm gonna shut up now. Thanks to those who reviewed!_

D restrained himself from wrinkling his nose at the smell of Stefan's house, his eyes fixed on the man but his senses absorbing more information than the direction of his gaze revealed. The structure of the building was old and run-down, mold seeping in through cracks in the ceiling and the paint peeling off the walls. Stephan was busy fixing himself a glass of water, rummaging through an assortment of odd items to find a chipped glass in the back of a cupboard. He needed to let the water run for a full minute before the liquid turned a sanitary clear color, fidgeting under D's stoic gaze all the while. "You want anything?" Stefan asked over the weak squirting of the rusty faucet, his bloodshot eyes flickering back to the imposing figure that stood so out of place in his kitchen.

The hunter looked away from Stefan, setting themselves instead upon the crooked door of the cupboard that had slowly creaked itself open despite Stefan's attempt to close it. "No, thank you."

The water shut off, Stefan gulping down half the glass before smacking his lips, turning and resting his bottom against the edge of the counter to face D, his electric blue eyes scanning the man from head to toe once more. "You wanna sit?" He watched curiously as the hunter simply shook his head. "You don't talk much, do you?"

The hunter simply stared at him, his black eyes not revealing one whit of emotion. Stefan shook his head, letting out a schoolboy's nervous giggle as he set the glass on the counter. "Ah, that's okay. I didn't create you for your verbal skills, anyway."

D decided not to answer once more, his eyes straying to the doorway of the kitchen. The soles of his boots made no sound as he crossed the dirty tiled floor, leaving Stefan in the kitchen as he passed through the doorway that lead to a cluttered room. The floor and furniture that inhabited the area were hardly recognizable, much less usable, beneath the piles of papers and other forgotten junk. D heard Stefan following him but didn't wait for his entrance, simply moving on to the next room that followed the same trend as the rest of the house.

"I like to think of it as homey." Stefan had caught up with him, his hands twisting together nervously. "Even if it isn't very organized." The man watched as D moved ahead of him, silent as the stone his face seemed to be carved out of. Not knowing what else to do with himself, Stephan blathered on. "I never had time to clean it, you know. I've spent almost sixteen years working on something to bring someone like you here." D paused, turning to look back at the pathetic man. Taking that as a sign of encouragement, Stefan stopped wringing his hands, one corner of his mouth twitching into a lopsided smile. "Almost sixteen years… and it worked." He covered his mouth with a hand as manic laughter escaped his mouth. "I still can't believe it, really. I can't believe I created something like you."

"You did not create me." D murmured, his eyes staring stoically down at the inventor whose jaw went slack with his words. He continued in an explanation, thinking the man would suffer some kind of mental collapse if he lapsed back into silence. "I was alive before you brought me here; I have many experiences and memories to prove it. I do not know what you did or how, but it seems you have taken me from my time and transported me here." D paused, watching Stefan closely for any sign that he was understanding his words.

The inventor's expression at first was a blank stare, but as D finished his brow furrowed, his eyes looking at the floor with a wild absence of mind as he thought, his teeth gnawing once more at a fingernail as he muttered under his breath. D watched the man with faint disgust, though he didn't say anything more. After a few moments Stefan seemed to realize D was still in the room, his eyes jerking up to the hunter's in an almost guilty manner. "Ah…" He cleared his throat, straightening his spine to present himself with a more dignified air. "I see... I'm sorry, I guess. I invented the machine to create things… but I guess it didn't work quite the way I expected." His spine, not used to such a straight posture, slipped back to its normal hunched position as Stefan rubbed the back of his neck. "A time machine…" another spurt of laughter slipped from his twisted lips. "I invented a bloody time machine, and had no idea until it exploded on me. Great."

A soft shuffle was the only sound that marked the shift of D's feet as they carried him off once more, turning his back to Stefan. His explanation done, he only found interest in two subjects: what time he had been sucked into, and why. Stefan hurried after him, fortunately seeming to sense D's irritation and the cause. "Eh… so I bet you wanna know why I wanted a vampire hunter, right?" D simply examined the room he had padded into silently, his eyes not missing a single detail as the fidgeting man continued. "Well… it's like this. Eh… not many people believe in vampires nowadays… though I suppose they do where you come from?" D turned to Stefan, though he didn't need to say anything as the man continued, his mind seeming to fly too quickly for his mouth. "Well, they would have to for you to have your job, wouldn't they?" He blinked, looking D over again for a different reason than admiration. "Though… you don't look like some medieval hunter to me, really. That's odd." He started to circle D, squinting at his clothes as if seeing them for the first time. The dark cloak that fell over his broad shoulders, complete with curving metal spikes that adorned those shoulders, seemed faintly medieval, but not enough for the inventor to be convinced. His eyes moved to squint shrewdly at D's face, "what's under that cape, eh?"

"Cloak." D corrected shortly, pulling one side of his cloak away from his body so Stefan could see the form fitting body suit that stretched over his skin and protected his flesh with a flexible kind of armor. Around his slender waist was a belt with a stone that matched the blue amulet hanging around his neck, the only source of vibrant color on the young man. Stefan rubbed at one of his sleep-deprived eyes with a thumb, frowning as he scrutinized D's clothing. Looking up again, he pointed at the object that was strapped around the hunter's back, "and that?"

D repressed a sigh, drawing a hand over his head to slide a portion of his bright longsword from the sheath, not bothering to extend the entire thing for fear of exceeding the limit of the small room and its clutter. "If you are satisfied," D murmured, guiding the sword back into the sheath, "I am still waiting for your explanation."

Stefan blinked up at him, his pale eyes widening marginally in his hallow face. "Oh—yes, yes, of course." He began to shuffle around D, moving in the direction from which they'd come. "Come on… The kitchen is a little cleaner than this, at least. We can sit." With that, the strange inventor left the room, leaving D with no choice but to follow.

_Review please, I need something to do with my free time!_


	3. A Story and a Plan

_Author's Note: Gah, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. A humongous thank you to everyone who reviewed, and to those who are hopefully faithful enough to weather through my periods of laziness to see this story done. Oh, and I don't own Vampire Hunter D and all that. (Though I would imagine that if I did, I wouldn't be writing dumb stories about him. I'd probably be sitting beside him and poking him repeatedly in the shoulder.)_

A full-fleshed, well-dressed woman in her mid-twenties beamed out at D from the faded ink of a photograph on the window near which he stood, gazing out at the untended shrubbery and scraggly grass that consisted of Stefan's yard. Stefan himself sat in one of the remaining chairs that surrounded the kitchen table, staring at his half-empty glass of water as his fingers tapped nervously on the table. He glanced up to catch D's dark gaze, his fingers stopping in their rhythm as he cleared his throat. "Yeah… okay. Well…" The man sighed, looking down at the pockmarked surface of the table. "I was engaged once to a woman named Linda. Not two months before our wedding date, if you had told us vampires existed we would have looked at you like most people would—like you were a complete loon." His eyes darted over to the taller man, but D's gaze had returned to the weed-riddled yard. "I loved her." He confessed, running a hand nervously through his thinning hair. "And I never got to marry her because of a man—no, a monster—named Jeremy."

D's gaze shifted, though not to look at Stefan as he paused. His eyes resting casually on the photo of the young woman, he murmured, "A vampire, I assume. After the blood of your bride-to-be."

Stefan scowled, "Yeah. He—" the man faltered for a moment before continuing on with some difficulty. "He seduced her… then killed her. Even the police agreed that he'd done it, but they were never able to get a lead on him." He saw D nod once and, encouraged, continued on. "I met him when Linda did: at my cousin's funeral. He claimed to have known Greg—my cousin—but I doubted him the whole way through. I could tell there was something weird about him, though I couldn't pinpoint what it was—and I couldn't convince Linda of it. She saw him as the perfect gentleman, and chided me for being jealous. But there was something in those green eyes of his I didn't like: something evil. And the way he kept looking at her—" Stefan broke off, shaking his head and shifting so he rested both elbows on the kitchen table, staring at it's surface with a faraway intensity. "That was around five months before our wedding, and I forgot about the guy. I thought Linda did too… but I guess she hadn't."

"It's strange." D's low voice cut so smoothly into the conversation it startled Stefan, who blinked in a bewildered manner as he was brought out of his reverie.

"What is?"

D glanced over to the human, his eyes being the only part of him that moved. "The vampires of this time seem very different than those I've hunted." He looked back outside, finding even that dull scenery a better view than the wasted man before him. "Moving through humans without detection, haunting funerals…"

Stefan's face had fallen at D's words. "So you won't be able to hunt them for me?"

The hunter looked sharply over to the man, tilting his head so the brim of his wide hat didn't interfere so much with his vision. "By no means. It's simply going to be a different game." He glanced away again, his eyes moving to his left hand and remaining focused on it as his voice continued in its polite murmur. "Please, continue."

The hopeful look that had entered Stefan's pale eyes faded as he was reminded of his somber story, his gaze falling to the hands that rested on the table below him. "Right… well, as I was saying. I didn't know anything about it at the time, but after she died I discovered she'd been seeing this Jeremy for some time." A frown crinkled his brows as he spoke, feeling the phantom pain stab its way through his body like it had upon that sordid discovery. "What baffled me was that Linda was just not the kind of girl to cheat on a guy she was engaged to. It just didn't make sense… like the fact that her body was drained of blood when they found her."

His tired eyes closed, finding a brief sanctuary in the darkness of his eyelids. "It seemed no one had an answer for me, and it took me a few long months to find it. People called me insane, or blamed my delusion on my suffering. But I _knew_. I _know_." The man's hands clenched on the table, his breath coming harder to him as he began to get aggravated. "His eyes… the way he moved… the way he drained her blood… it all fits." He looked to D suddenly, "doesn't it?"

The hunter shrugged his strong shoulders before answering, "Many humans of my time are able to tell when a vampire is near them—but those vampires have red eyes, not green, and they reside in castles that are fully in the view of the town they terrorize."

Stefan shook his head, his mind going again to work on the mystery of what time period this strange man had popped out of. It sounded medieval the more he described it, but his clothing still didn't match the story. Stefan put that train of thought on pause to respond to the information the hunter had just divulged. "Do you think you'd be able to find him?"

"Your vampire seems to be a rogue, correct?" D asked, looking back to Stefan. "If he does not have a permanent residence here, there is really no guarantee he will come back here at all. As for finding where he's gone off to, a time lapse of nearly sixteen years leaves a trail extremely cold. Especially a vampire's."

Stefan had stood somewhere in the middle of this conversation, an excited smile on his face as he stood like a child with a secret, waiting for D to be done speaking. "Yes, yes… I realized that, you know. And I nearly beat myself up, trying to come up with a way to track the bastard. Of course, we've been tacking animals for decades, but I obviously didn't have some kind of tag on the guy."

As he spoke Stefan began moving, heading out to the garage where the sorry remains of his ingenious invention still lay in twisted piles of chrome. Stefan barely heeded these marks of disaster, stepping over them in pursuit of a different goal. D was once more forced to follow the inventor, as he kept speaking throughout the journey. "I did a lot of research, though, dabbling in any kind of science or superstition on vampires… and I came across a whole field of research on auras." He grinned crookedly as he stopped by a wall supporting rows of shelves that held numerous bits of junk, looking back to D with an excited, almost insane gleam in his eyes. "Did you know that each person has a different and distinct aura—like a fingerprint? They're all different colors… different energies surrounding different parts of the body." He turned toward the shelves behind him, not waiting for an answer as he began to root through the junk piled there. "I managed to translate each different hue to each body part into calculations by which this little hoo-dickey—" he whisked a metal tube out of the pile with a dramatic air, "can recognize them."

D eyed the contraption, which measured nearly half a foot in length and no more than an inch in diameter looked like an enlarged version of a glow-stick. The first inch and a half on either end of the tube was solid chrome with small and numerous buttons or knobs, while the middle was made of a clear glass-like substance. The lopsided grin stayed on Stefan's face as D examined his invention, lowering it from his gaze to turn a red knob on the bottom. With a soft click the contraption was turned on, the transparent middle immediately lighting up and shifting through the colors of the spectrum. D lifted his gaze to the inventor, his inquiry leaving his lips in the same neutral tones all his previous sentences had been conveyed in. "How do you know this vampire's aura well enough for that to be able to distinguish it?"

The man's grin only widened, teeth yellowed from years of neglect becoming clear through the jagged smile. "Of course… that is the question, isn't it?" He chuckled to himself, looking down to the tube, which had settled on a few colors of the spectrum, the insides shifting through the hues with a liquid-like consistency and truthfully resembling the innards of a lava lamp more than anything else. "Of course, from my years of study on the subject, I knew which colors represented what on the personality scale… and knowing what I knew of him," here Stefan's excited look faded, replaced by one of a dark kind of triumph, "I was able to piece together enough aspects of his aura to narrow the search quite a bit."

D didn't respond verbally for a long moment, his quiet eyes focused thoughtfully on the inventor. Stefan seemed to realize he was being scrutinized, looking into the taller man's eyes and blinking as he slowly lowered his arms. The light from the contraption cast an ethereal glow on Stefan's jagged features, rendering the inventor even more inclined to give the viewer the impression of abnormality. Finally D moved, extending his open hand to the inventor as he waited for the invention to be placed into it. Stefan hesitated, looking from D's face to his hand as he seemed confused. "You'll… help me?" He muttered finally in a tentative manner, tilting his head back to look uncertainly to D's eyes.

D gave a simple nod, his hand still extended for the invention that would aid his search. The grin had just begun to enter the inventor's eyes before D spoke, his own eyes staying as opaque as a brick wall. "There will be a price, of course."

Stefan seemed on the verge of collapsing, the hand that held his invention beginning to tremble as he sensed a critical moment was upon them. His arm extended, placing the end of the aura detector into D's gloved palm. "Anything."

The vampire hunter closed his hand around the invention, his eyes not revealing any emotion that might be lurking in his soul even as he began to head for the garage door that would lead him to the outside of this strange world he had been thrust into. "Find a way to send me back."


	4. What to Do

_Author's Note: Yes, rejoice with me, for I have been hit by the urge to write… and, lucky for you, there's a lot more where this came from. I'm just waiting for a proper response before I add. (Look, more motivation for you to review!) This is a kind of filler chapter if anything, so I will update soon after this. does a dance Oh, and again, I don't own D, or his hand… If I did, I'd be dancing with him instead of by myself on a lonely night in front of a computer. resumes pathetic jig while pondering the oddities of the word 'jig'_

D inhaled sharply as the heavy metal door of Stefan's garage shut behind him with a thud. The hunter stood in the scraggly patch of grass and dirt that marked the part of Stefan's property that curled around the side of the house, glancing up at the navy blue sky that opened above him. His nostrils flared slightly as he stood in silence, his dark gaze lowering to the tops of the trees that marked the separation between Stefan's property and his neighbors. The backyard had a stone wall, visible from where D stood, but the barrier turned to a chain-link fence and a thick line of trees about halfway around the house. Looking to his left, where the front of the house faced, D observed a long stretch of dirt used as a narrow driveway, again hemmed in by trees. The dirt widened to accommodate the front of the house and a rusty Sedan that looked as ready to crumble as the rest of Stefan's property.

The hunter exhaled a short gust of air from his nose, beginning to follow this dirt path silently, his pace casual as he took his chance to get away from the stale air of Stefan's home and consider his next move. He switched off the detector "hoo-dickey" still in his hand, truncating its glow before slipping it through a loop in his belt and looking again to the path ahead of him. Knowing what he knew of this vampire he'd been hired to hunt, searching rural areas would be futile. He sounded like he would be attracted to crowds, large cities… D glanced down at himself, the familiar hunting outfit of metal and skins greeting his eyes. Considering Stefan's clothing and the way he commented on his own, D was far from blending in with the human population. The hunter sighed slightly, looking back ahead and shaking his head. That was something he couldn't remedy at the moment, considering he had no idea where to find articles of clothing and was in no mood to return to Stefan's stifled home.

"I'm beginning to think your brain got left behind when we were teleported in that time machine thingie, D."

D's eyes barely blinked at the sound of the new voice that cut into his silent reverie, his feet not missing a beat as they continued in their stride. His throat also did not give the voice the honor of a recognition or response.

"Taking a job at a time like this?" The voice grew louder, apparently eager to be noticed. "You don't even know where or when you are! How are you supposed to hunt down a _vampire_?"

"That man brought me here for a reason." D replied in the same low voice he always seemed to use. "If I don't help him, there's a good chance he'll refuse to send me back."

"You ever pause to consider how he would send you back? Ya blew up that machine of his when you came through, didn't you?"

"That is his problem." D muttered as he reached the end of the driveway, glancing around at his more open surroundings and not giving the voice a chance to respond. "Now, are you going to help me or not?"

"Not too much faith in the madman's contraption, eh?"

The stoic hunter did not reply as he crouched to the ground, shoving his hand palm-down into the dirt. There was a dramatic coughing and sputtering sound before some grumblings, and then silence only broken by a quiet munching sound. After a moment or two D lifted his hand to the air, and there was a faint whistling sound as of someone inhaling for a long period of time.

"Hm…" The sucking noise stopped, and the voice, which came from D's upraised hand, seemed disturbed by something. "Doesn't seem good, D. There are more vampires than we can count here… must be before the battles, before they revealed themselves. In fact, it smelled like there was one—"

The voice was cut off as D's palm was suddenly slammed in the dirt again, though this time not by any will of the hunter's. D had used it to brace himself as he was abruptly collided into, his body swaying slightly but keeping the crouch that turned defensive as his eyes snapped to his attacker. What he saw was a cloud of dust formed by a man's body tumbling harshly on the ground, a few pained grunts accommodating his skidding fall. He came to a stop a few yards away—evidence that he'd been traveling at a great speed before apparently tripping over the vampire hunter.

A few coughs accompanied his pained attempt to rise, though he didn't get further than his knees when he froze, the cold steel of a blade pressed against his neck.

Behind the man, D glared with a gaze that could very well freeze fire. Despite the glare, his voice was as calm as it had ever been.

"Move and this blade goes through your neck." The man couldn't seem to repress a flinch at the stony voice. "And I promise that is something even you would not recover from."


	5. Mace

_Author's Note: Alright, I realize it hasn't even been a day since the last two chapters, but I already have this one done so I figure why the heck not. I do have a question for you all which you will hopefully answer in your review: Can D 'flitt'? Flitting is described in this chapter, but it's for next chapter that I need that question answered. Anyway, enjoy… I don't own D, but I DO own Mace. He is _my_ little long-haired vampire, and none of you can have him. So there._

The vampire felt his Adam's apple bob in a vain attempt to work up enough spit to swallow, or perhaps speak to the faceless owner of the blade pressed against his neck. He felt his eyes rotate in their sockets as he tried to get a glimpse of his attacker, but his long hair, dirtied by his unexpected trip in the dirt, blocked his vision.

It was an uncommon occurrence for a vampire to trip, or to run into things—especially when they were running at superhuman speed, an ability that had been termed 'flitting'. This particular vampire didn't know of the term, much less care, but he knew enough of his ability to be unnerved. He avoided people and buildings alike when flitting, but somehow he hadn't known this man—this man holding him so helpless with this blade—was in his way. The vampire's eyes shifted again, staring wildly ahead of him as he tried to think of a solution despite the shock of the situation reeling in his head. _He wasn't there. He wasn't supposed to be there. But he's there._

The vampire flinched at the sound of the man's voice, the tones containing more of a deadly chill than the steel pressed against his throat. "What is your name."

The man finally managed to swallow, a voice exiting his throat as a rough growl. The growl was the Hunter's voice—and the Hunter always helped him when he was in trouble. "What do you care?" His head turned, his body following to look upon his attacker with defiant eyes that flared red.

The only thing the vampire could gather was dark eyes in an ivory face before there was a streak of white-hot pain in his shoulder. He yelped, pitching himself forward in a mindless hope to avoid another stroke from the blade. His escape was helped along by a shove in the back, pitching him forward to land on the shoulder that had just been assaulted. He landed harshly with a pained hiss, followed by a low whimper at the gleam of the blade that was placed again at his neck. His eyes, glittering darkly from the shadows, could only stare helplessly up at the towering figure above him as it spoke once more.

"I will not ask again."

The vampire blinked, tangled hair splayed out in the dirt from his fall. Though a few misplaced strands were irritating his eyes, he didn't dare lift a hand to move them, wide eyes sliding to rest fearfully on the sharp blade pricking the skin at his throat. The voice was meek, all hint of a growl gone. The Hunter knew when he was helpless; when it was better to let the other in.

"Mace. My name is Mace." Then the voice failed altogether, remaining only as a whisper. "I—I didn't mean to trip over you. Please don't kill me."

_A/N: Me again, just reminding you to answer the question of whether D would be able to flitt or not. Sorry this chapter is a bit short, the next few will be longer. Review please!_


	6. Information

_Author's Note: Yeah, again, it's been a while, but what with work and a bunch of other of that life stuff I just haven't had the time or energy. But here it is… if anyone spots any glaring contradictions or problems with the plot thus far please point them out so I can change it; I'm afraid that at the moment I'm writing each chapter as it happens, with a kind of vague idea of where it's all going to lead. Usually that's fine… interesting things happen when you let the characters run rampant once in a while… but the problem with submitting it all online is that there isn't an easy way to go back and edit and pretend like your stupidity never happened. Ah well. In any case, thanks to those who have kept up with it so far, and those who have reviewed! I hope you enjoy this next installment!_

_Disclaimer: I have no rights to D, this is just a little fantasy, blah blah blah. Mace and all his confused goodness IS mine, however, and if you steal him I will hunt you down and kill everything near and dear to you in proper vengeance, starting with your goldfish and ending with either your mother or your first born child, whichever is around. Consider yourself warned._

D stared down at the dirty oddity splayed before him, a slight hint of a frown working its way into his stony features.

_This is supposed to be a vampire?_

Though the answer to that question was obvious, this creature was acting like no other vampire he'd ever encountered—what vampire ever admitted defeat, or even pleaded for his life, before being absolutely certain they could not defeat the hunter? D's hand almost relaxed his blade, but a sudden thought flashed through his mind in a warning. _It could be a trick._ A ploy to make him relax his defenses. But there was a sense of authenticity to the vampire's pathetic plea—a real fear that rested in his eyes. A real… pain?

_Focus._

The mental voice made D quickly shake himself back to reality. "Mace." He repeated, careful not to let any hint of emotion creep into his irises as he stared down at the vampire, if it could be called as such. Not the one he was looking for, it seemed… "I'm looking for a vampire, Mace," he murmured in a level voice, still eyeing the creature below him. "His name is Jeremy."

A tiny wisp of recognition darted through the vampire's dark eyes, though it wasn't subtle enough to escape D's attention.

"I don't know many people. No one talks to me."

Again the touch of sadness—but that wasn't D's concern. The blade simply pressed closer. "You're lying."

The vampire winced. "I don't… I met him a long time ago."

"Where." The hunter had to repress his surprise at how easily the vampire released the information. Even a lie was hard to get out of the creatures, or at least that was D's experience.

The vampire was silent at this question, dark eyes rotating back to look at the sky above them. A small trickle of blood slipped down his flesh to moisten the collar of his ratty shirt as a response to the silence, but Mace's only reaction was to answer ambiguously. "I don't know." Before the blade could slice deeper he closed his eyes, his voice rising. "I don't know states or streets or neighborhoods. I can't tell you, I can't tell you, leave me alone!"

D hardly raised an eyebrow at the vampire's odd behavior, one hand gripping him by his arm and hauling him to his feet as the other replaced the long sword to its sheath. "Then you will show me."

Mace shuddered, glancing to the white hand on his arm and wrenching away despite the threat of death this man exuded. "Don't touch me." He snapped, brushing his arm off compulsively. _Filthy._ His eyes shifted to his bearings as the man neglected to react, his mind playing with the idea of escape even as he knew it wasn't the right time. He had to stall, readjust, form a plan. At least he was standing… though glancing back to the oddly-dressed _thing_ beside him, he knew he'd better be careful or he wouldn't be for long.

"I—It's a long way away." He stammered, all hint of angry disgust gone at the sight of the _thing's_ eyes. "It would take… a while… to walk—"

The thing seemed to consider this for a moment, though his black eyes never left Mace, who shifted uneasily under such icy scrutiny. "Surely there are other modes of transportation…?"

Mace wondered faintly if the things voice was capable of any other emotion but calm and composed, but the thought was fleeting in his struggle to avoid the equally flat eyes. "I… yes. Cars and… busses and… I usually just run. Like I was." Mace mustered the courage to peek through the strands of his long hair to catch a glimpse of the thing. To his relief, the dark eyes had strayed from him to gaze out at the deserted street with a thoughtful frown. This gave him the chance to scrutinize the thing more closely, eyes drifting over clothing Mace had never seen the likes of in his life. And in a flash, it hit him; the answer to this mess he had literally ran right into. He could hardly contain the lazy smirk that stretched across his lips, his voice transformed into a smooth murmur as he addressed D. "But you can't go anywhere like that." He felt a growing confidence as the thing looked back to him for an explanation, gaining enough to jump to conclusions. "You're more of a freak show than I am. You said you were 'looking' for him, but he's not looking for you, _is_ he?" At the thing's silence Mace continued, his smirk forming into a more toothy grin. "I don't know why you dress that way… but he'll see you coming a mile away. And you don't want him to see you, do you?"

Mace watched the thing's dark eyes narrow slightly, ignoring the danger of the gaze that he had cowered before just a few moments ago. The Hunter, the simplistic animal mind that was always lurking under the surface had regained his footing, making up for his earlier defeat with such sound reasoning. The transitions between Mace and this Hunter always made perfect sense in the mind they shared, the two flowing between each other in an even and reliable rhythm. It was so reliable, Mace realized, that he should have known better than to fear this thing, this man, like he had. Hunter always ended such situations, there had been no reason to fall to anxiety.

"Then it seems I will require new clothing, doesn't it." Mace was brought out of his inner thoughts by the man's voice, as even and cold as it had ever been, just like his unflinching irises. The Hunter sneered, and a corner of Mace's mouth twitched into the same expression.

"Guess so," Hunter responded in a rough voice. "But you can hardly drag me with you to do that. I'm not going to help you dress yourself." With those words he turned, brazenly putting his back to D as he deemed the entire conversation to be over. A growl was quick to erupt from his throat as the man gripped his arm with a grip that perhaps rivaled his own, Hunter's head whipping around to snarl at D with eyes that now shone a bright red. The strange man's voice was quick to interrupt any violence that could emerge from the unstable vampire, though it still portrayed nothing but a calm control.

"You will help me pick out suitable clothing," D commanded, slate eyes locked with Hunter's fiery ones. "Then you will direct me to where you last saw the vampire Jeremy." At Hunter's growl the grip tightened, a reminder of the earlier strength when he had had the vampire helpless on the ground. The vampire's glare was nothing short of venomous as D concluded his command. "There are worse fates for a vampire, and I would not mind granting you any of them if you continue to waste my time."

The animal mind, suddenly finding itself bound and caged by such a basic reasoning, could only choke out a low growl of defeat around its wounded pride.

_Note: Good God, it's 3:06 AM. If you notice anything stupid at all, please notify me and I will promptly blame the time and my lack of mental cohesiveness at any hour past midnight. Thank you!_


End file.
